P-Bruins Journal: Svedberg, teammates won’t dwell on loss to Hershey

Mark Divver Assistant Sports Editor markdivver

Sunday

Apr 28, 2013 at 12:01 AM

PROVIDENCE — After stumbling to a 5-2 defeat in Friday night’s playoff opener against Hershey, the Providence Bruins on Saturday focused on putting the loss behind them and getting back to playing like...

PROVIDENCE — After stumbling to a 5-2 defeat in Friday night’s playoff opener against Hershey, the Providence Bruins on Saturday focused on putting the loss behind them and getting back to playing like they did in winning their last nine regular-season games.

“We need to play the game the way we usually play. Not worry too much about (Friday) night. Forget about it and move forward,” said goalie Niklas Svedberg, who was pulled after allowing four goals in 29:23.

“That’s something you have to do every game. You let in a bad goal or have a bad game, you have to move forward. You can’t worry too much about that. There’s no time for that now.

“Obviously, I’m not happy with four goals in half the game. I could have done better on some. On the last two goals, if I’d tracked the puck better, I might have saved one of those. We had some unlucky bounces, too. One went in off our skate,” he said after practice at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center on Saturday morning.

“It’s small details in the playoffs. I think we played a lot better in the end of the game. Take the good stuff and move forward.”

Bad timing

Chris Bourque called Friday night’s loss the worst game the P-Bruins have played in four months.

“We need to play at our pace. We didn’t really have good jump in the first 25 minutes of the game. You can’t expect to win hockey games down 4-0 halfway through the game. Obviously, we need to have a better start, and move the puck a lot faster.

“I don’t think we thought we were going to go undefeated. Hopefully, it’s a nice little wakeup call for us. We just want to play our game, worry about what we’re doing, not what they’re doing. We’ll be fine,” he said.

There for all to see

Before practice, the P-Bruins watched video and talked about what went wrong on Friday night.

“We looked at some of our breakout pace, how we managed the puck, the tempo we played with it,” said coach Butch Cassidy. “We talked about finishing a few plays. On the power play, we essentially missed a couple of open nets.

“You can’t want to reinvent the power play because one night you missed a couple of open nets. We could have very easily been 50 percent (instead of 0-for-4). I know we need to shoot the puck more. (The Hershey Bears) didn’t miss their open nets. We had a couple of opportunities like their third and fourth goals, with shots and tips, and it didn’t go in. Theirs did.

“If we finish a few more plays and manage the puck a little better, all of a sudden a 4-2 loss (with an empty-net goal) maybe turns into a 4-2 win. But you got to go out and do it. That wasn’t the message this morning. The going out and doing it part will be (on Sunday),” he said.

“I don’t think we played our best game. I’m not going to sit here and put all that on us, or give them all the credit. It’s usually a combination of both. They were good. We were pretty average. It wasn’t going to be good enough to win.

“There’s 16 teams that get to play in the tournament. Our goal is to be one of the eight that advance. We’ve go to do what we’ve got to do to get there. The butterflies should be gone. I would expect you’ll see a more assertive team (on Sunday). I don’t see us making some of the same mistakes that we did with the puck.”

No substitute for experience

There’s a good chance that right winger Graham Mink will be in the Providence lineup on Sunday after being a healthy scratch on Friday, Cassidy said. “We’re definitely looking at getting Mink in the mix. He’s earned it. He gives a little bit more of a veteran presence in there.”

The 33-year-old Mink, who won Calder Cups with Hershey in 2006 and 2009, scored 10 goals in 33 games this season. He has 19 goals in 67 AHL playoff games. He scored two game-winners for the Bears’ in their five-game win over Providence in the Eastern Conference finals in 2009.

“I think Providence has as much depth as anybody in this league up front,” said Mark French, Hershey’s coach. “I think Graham’s a wonderful player. I certainly have some fond memories of Graham, winning a Calder Cup with him.”

Cassidy said he would probably dress the same six defensemen as on Friday. However, there is a chance that Matt Bartkowski could be recalled for Boston’s game against Ottawa on Sunday.

French indicated that he would not make any lineup changes.

Live and learn

Hershey started fast on Friday night, which was the game plan after they were outshot by Providence, 11-2, in the early going during their visit to The Dunk two weeks ago.

“We knew the start was going to be important. I was happy with our first rotation through our four lines,” said French.

“I expect a real good response (from Providence). They have a real character group that has had a lot of success. Our whole focus is we know we need to be better than we were in Game One. We expect a real good effort from them.”

Game Two of the best-of-five series is Sunday afternoon at 3:05 at The Dunk.

Perfect litmus test

Playoff hockey is a great measuring stick for young players, according to Don Sweeney, Boston’s assistant general manager.

Sweeney, who attended Friday’s game with GM Peter Chiarelli, recalled David Krejci’s first postseason test with Providence against Hartford in 2007.

“They really went at him hard. He responded — and I knew right away that he was going to be able to play at the National Hockey League level and take all the necessary punishment. He reminded me of Adam Oates, wanting the puck all the time, making other players better,” said Sweeney.

“(The postseason) certainly gives you a clear indication of where guys are at and whether or not they going to be able to handle it when the stakes go up. You’ve got guys here that are going to go through it for the first time. We’re excited to see how they react to it.”

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